Ain't She Sweet?

He sighed. “Sorry. Frustration. I keep thinkin’ she’s going to snap out of it, and we’ll have our daughter back.”

She and Ryan hardly ever spoke harshly to each other. They disagreed, but in more than thirteen years of marriage, they’d never done more than exchange a few chilly silences. She didn’t know how couples like Meryli

“I couldn’t punch her,” Deke had said, and Meryli

Wi

Ryan leaned back in his chair. “She looks like a street kid in those clothes.”

Something else that was her fault. Today Gigi’d worn that awful shirt she’d insisted on getting at the Salvation Army Thrift Shop. Wi

Wi

How had it come to this? Wi

“Gigi doesn’t hate you,” Ryan said. “She’s just being a teenager.”

“It’s more than that. I’d like to smack those girls for turning against her last summer. It was simple jealousy.”

“Gigi played into their hands. She’ll work through it.”

Despite his words, Wi

“Maybe later.” Ryan wasn’t particular about food. Half the time he didn’t remember to eat, which was why he stayed so lean, while she had to watch every bite.

She needed to tell him about Sugar Beth coming into the shop. Otherwise, she’d be giving it too much importance. But as she tried to frame the words, the wineglass she’d been rinsing slipped in her fingers and broke in the sink.

“You okay?” He rose and came toward her. She wanted him to wrap his arms around her, but he studied the mess instead.

“I’m fine. Why don’t you make coffee while I clean this up?”

As she tossed the bigger pieces of glass in the trash, she wondered why she didn’t feel more satisfaction about today. The years had taken their toll on Sugar Beth, and for the first time in their lives, Wi

She’d begun to bloom her senior year in high school after Sugar Beth and Ryan had left for college. She’d stopped overeating and found the courage to have her hair cut. Inside, she might have been the same awkward teenager, but outside she began to move with a new assurance that only grew more pronounced after Griffin and Sabrina’s marriage. Suddenly, she was the rich girl who lived at Frenchman’s Bride.

Wi

The past wove its way through the sound of the furnace clicking on and the smell of the coffee beans Ryan was grinding. She was sixteen again, taking a shortcut through the gym when she’d tripped and her algebra notebook had fallen open at Sugar Beth’s feet.

“Give it back!” Wi

“Listen up, y’all. Wi

The Seawillows abandoned their chatter. Wi

But Sugar Beth just smiled and took another step up into the bleachers. Wi

Sugar Beth smirked. “I don’t know why you’re getting so uptight. It’s just girls.”

Amy touched the gold cross at her neck. “Maybe you shouldn’t read it if Wi

Sugar Beth ignored her. “Y’all aren’t going to believe this.”

Wi

“Oh, don’t be so immature.” The gold hoops at Sugar Beth’s ears flashed as she flipped her perfect mane of hair. Then she began to read. “He looked at my naked nipples.”

The girls laughed, even Amy, although she touched her cross again. Sweat soaked through the underarms of Wi

“No, don’t stop!” Leea

Sugar Beth propped one of her metallic flats on the bleacher in front of her. “Next, he slipped his broad, strong hand into my tiny lace panties.” The way Sugar Beth emphasized the word tiny served as a not so subtle reminder that Wi

Wi

“He slid his other hand up the inside of my leg . . .” Sugar Beth’s blue eyes widened in fake shock. “Why, Wi

“I like it.” Leea

Sugar Beth turned the page. “ ‘I love you, Wi